Noirdrakkar Reviews Erolfa by Creed

Creed is one of my favorite houses of all time, and I've tested a lot of their fragrances, so me testing Erolfa has to be a natural consequence of that.

Scent 3/5

Lime, tangerine, sea salt, with a background of musk, floral notes and a light base of amber.

This fragrance tries to paint a portrait of an oceanic seabreeze and does it well. I've heard comparisons to Wall Street, but I don't see much similar. And the seabreeze of this fragrance is different than that of Bulgari Aqua. There really isn't any fragrance out there from other houses very similar to this one.

The quality of this fragrance is a bell curve. The first half hour is not very good at all. I was ready to bash this fragrance. From 30 minutes to 90 minutes, the fragrance is great. I was ready to praise it. But after that, from the 2nd to 3rd hour, it dies down again. And now, I'm at where I am now, in the middle.

The opening is generic, but then the citrus comes out. Then the base notes come in, and then the citrus leaves. When the entire fragrance is in unison, it's a great smelling fragrance. But when the development segments and segregates itself into parts, then it just feels poorly arranged.

In the midpoint, it's probably a 4. And at it's worst points, it's a 2 or 2 and a half. It just smells like an early blueprint of Millesime Imperial and I do think MI had made this fragrance obsolete.

This fragrance is simple (too simple), so your application and skin chemistry is critical. I largely see this fragrance as good for layering due to it's simplicity.

Versatility 2.5/5

You could wear this on any occasion and I see any gender wearing this. The lack of originality means you will probably have something better to wear on every occasion. The performance issues makes this scent summer only. If you live in Florida, or around that area, Erolfa might work well for you, but up north here I don't see the point.

Originality 2/5

Not very original. This would soon inspire the great Millesime Imperial in 3 years, but Erolfa as it was and is just isn't very groundbreaking. It does do some new things, but in the end, it's your typical fresh fragrance.

Projection 1/5

Very weak. I had to bury my nose in my skin to detect this. Summer will probably help project this though, but I would never wear this in the winter.

Longevity 1/5

The life cycle of this fragrance in its development has some interesting twists and turns, but it is a very short life cycle. You can always carry an atomizer, but the longevity is just one more flaw on the list that detacts from it.

Value 1.5/5

This is definitely not worth $300+ or $3/ml. You can get this on online for $140, but even then, you can do much better with that money. It also depends on your budgeting. If you want to spend under $1000 on your collection, don't even consider Erolfa. But if you are willing to spend $10,000 on the ultimate collection, maybe Erolfa has room. This is even less of a good value than most Bond no 9 fragrances, and that's sad.

Overall Rating 2.5/5

If this were a designer fragrance at a designer price, I would probably rate this a 3.5, but even then, many designers outshine this. Don't get me wrong. It's not bad at all. It's just doesn't meet the expectations of what a great fragrance should be.

A good concept with quality ingredients, but in the end, it is vapid and full of performance issues. If it was better made, it could have been a good staple for any summer collection. Just get Virgin Island Water instead.

Re: Noirdrakkar Reviews Erolfa by Creed

I agree with your assessment of Erolfa. It doesn't smell all that special now. Erolfa has been marginalized by (1) hundreds of competitors since it came out (AdG, Chrome, Fierce, etc) (2) changes from natural ingredients to cheaper synthetic replacements, (3) Creed moving the formula more towards the competitors.

I keep singing the praises of the original Erolfa as it was back in the 1990's. It smelled more intense and the ingredients felt natural, tart and tingling compared to the Erolfa we have now. When applying Erolfa back then you really woke up the senses with its sparkling zing. The contrast of the notes within the fragrance was intense. Not now. The Erolfa of the last 12 years has the same basic note elements but it has lost its magic. Luca Turin rated Erolfa 4 stars in his Duftnotes in the '90's but reduced it to 2 stars in the "Guide" for todays version. 2 stars is generous, in my opinion. Could it be synthetic replacement of natural oils? Is the formula thinned down? I like the smell of Erolfa, but it is very average in quality now.

Re: Noirdrakkar Reviews Erolfa by Creed

I'm a huge fan of the house of Creed, but I'm not really a fan of this one (along with Tabarome Millesime and Royal Water). With the current Creed offerings, such as MI, VIW, and SMW, Erolfa seems redundant.

Re: Noirdrakkar Reviews Erolfa by Creed

I've had almost exactly the opposite experience from what BNers are reporting here. I bought a 1 oz travel size of Erolfa, fairly new juice, and it's spectacular - complex, long lasting, good projection, and a real compliment-getter. Loved it so much I sprang for a 2.5 oz bottle I found online at a great price. When it arrived I was surprised to find that the seller shipped vintage juice, in the box with the picture of a sailboat. It's a legit bottle, but the juice has mellowed considerably with age. I much prefer the newer bottle. Now wishing I had purchased from creedboutique or Niemans. The vintage bottle is wearable, but not as sharp and sparkling as the vintage.

Re: Noirdrakkar Reviews Erolfa by Creed

Originally Posted by mrcologneguy

I've had almost exactly the opposite experience from what BNers are reporting here. I bought a 1 oz travel size of Erolfa, fairly new juice, and it's spectacular - complex, long lasting, good projection, and a real compliment-getter.

Re: Noirdrakkar Reviews Erolfa by Creed

Don't find the opening generic at all.

I had a vintage bottle some time ago, disliked and sold it. When I came across a tester at Neiman Marcus, I had a hard time believing it was the same fragrance (and I'm positive I didn't have a fake). The "newer" version seemed more citrusy and pleasant, the prior version darker and a bit on the skanky side.

As it stands now, I find this to be, with the passage of time, much more original than Imperial which has been imitated much more. Both are great fragrances - can't really say I have a preference, but I do find myself reaching for Erolfa more.

Re: Noirdrakkar Reviews Erolfa by Creed

Oftentimes, I have worn Erolfa and out of the blue I will smell something good and reallze it's me. That's the way Erolfa works for me. Sometimes I think the longevity is awful, but other times, I'm not so sure. Sometimes I think it's gone, but then I get a little waft of it and like it a lot.

When I smell it, I like it. The problem is, I just can't smell it very often. For the price, they really need to work on the projection. A "light" cologne is one thing, but Erolfa is up there with Bois de Cedrat as far as sillage, and that's not a good thing.

Re: Noirdrakkar Reviews Erolfa by Creed

Just bought this and I really like it. It's one of those that if you analyze it, it doesn't sound good. But the overall effect is a great scent cloud scent. I have gotten several unsolicited compliments already.

Re: Noirdrakkar Reviews Erolfa by Creed

Originally Posted by cameron

Just bought this and I really like it. It's one of those that if you analyze it, it doesn't sound good. But the overall effect is a great scent cloud scent. I have gotten several unsolicited compliments already.

I was actually pretty impressed by it when I tested it out in a store the other day. A very nice, fresh, summery frag. But that was only on a tester strip. Still, it smelled great.

I was given a decant of it by the SA and look forward to wearing it more once the weather warms up.

Re: Noirdrakkar Reviews Erolfa by Creed

I remember long before I joined and was just a "lurker", this dude had the ability to get so many people worked up into a lather. I used to love to read those threads just for pure entertainment purposes!lol Wonder whatever happened to him?